Flames extension for Lindholm likely to come in around $9 million: report

An extension between the Calgary Flames and Elias Lindholm remains a strong possibility, but it may not be at the price fans had in mind.

There has been a ton of speculation regarding Lindholm’s future, as the 28-year-old is entering the final season of his six-year contract. He has had plenty of success for the last five seasons as the Flames’ number-one centreman, and it goes without saying that the organization would like to lock him in the long term.

In his most recent 32 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated that Lindholm, along with some of the Flames’ other pending free agents, are seriously considering re-signing in Calgary. That said, Friedman doesn’t believe the Flames and Lindholm are all that close just yet, and thinks that if a deal does get done, it could be as high as $9 million per season.

“Mikael Backlund’s extension is a great sign and others are positively reconsidering their futures,” Friedman wrote. “But I don’t get the sense that anything is close, yet. And it’s possible Elias Lindholm’s number is going to be higher than I initially thought — in the $9 million range.”

Based off of last season’s totals, $9 million is a high number for Lindholm. The talented Swede had an off year by his standards, recording 22 goals and 64 points in 80 outings.

That said, Lindholm has proven in season’s past that he is capable of producing better numbers. The 2022-23 campaign was an off-year for plenty of Flames and a bounce-back season is expected. It is also important to keep in mind just how good of a player he is defensively, as he finished second in Selke Trophy voting for the 2021-22 season.

Being able to re-sign Lindholm would prove to the Flames fanbase that this new management group is serious about winning. While some may have preferred to go the rebuild route, the Backlund extension suggests that isn’t in the cards. If a Lindholm extension is indeed worked out, then it is safe to expect this group to try and be a contender moving forward.

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